Tree surgery.



E. PEETS.

TREE SURGERY.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. z8, 1913.

Patented June 16, TIQM.

' to get a lling which will flex with t q and thus avoid the cracking or sp as seen in Fig. 2, the

nnnnn'r Puurs, 0F GLEVELAND, Vonro.

' Tann SURGERY.

Speciflcatinn of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 2s, 1913. serial un. 757,366.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, ELBERT Pnnfrs citi` zen of the United States, residing at leveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and'State of Ohio, have invented certainnew and useful Im provements in Tree Surgery, of which the following is a specication.

This invention relates to tree surgery, and the invention consists in the new and original means employed for filling a cavity or wound in the trunk or branch of a tree, substantially as shown and described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional elevation of a trunk of a tree having a cavity filled according to my invention, and Fig. 2 is a front view of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a portion of the tree and facing shown say same being enlarged and disclosing particularly the matter of securing the briquets in place. Fig. 4 is a cross section of Fig. 2,'. and Fig. section corresponding to Fig. 4 but showing a modiiicationin the manner of fastening the briquets in place.

g economically out.

5 is a cross Considering, first the state of the art and 'I the observations and led up to the present invention, `1t ls'to be understood that the desideratuml has been experiences which have 5 j be seen best mechanically.

e tree itting Y which generally attends a` perfectly rigid'` and inflexible the cement filling is th'emost common.

With the recognition of the fact that ceynient is not fitted to serve as a\iilling materialfor everykind of cavity, has come a demand for a 4more elastic material, more i I like wood in its properties and capable of becoming more nearly like an integral part of the tree. The moment this need was discovered asphalt suggested itself as the material which would most nearly meet the requirements. Its eminent fitness is obvious. It is slightly elastic, while concrete is absolutely rigid; it is waterproof, while concrete absorbs water; it adheres to wood 'while concrete does not; it-is lightv andi while concrete is heavy and cold.` It

warm

is hard enough to stay in place and to resist the force of the ingrowing callus. S

The only reason why asphalt has not long since superseded concrete to a large degree is that until lately no method of filling. Of vthis latter kind handling -itvfront part and eectively has been worked The means most commonly practised is to form a dam of some such material as clay` over the mouth -of the wound and to pour the melted asphalt in behind it. This, however, is open to the objection that the solid material is rather expensive, and that a dam of any considerable height is diiiicult to build up. Mixing the asphalt with sand and re-heating it in place, as is done in laying asphalt pavement, is .'a dilicult and very slow process. I have, therefore, conceived and developed the present invention. which consists, broadly, in a wall or filling on the face of the cavity, consisting of briquets made of excelsior and savvdust or theirequivalent, bound together Patented J un@ llG. 'Jillian'.

with asphalt or other elastic cementitious material. The wall is built up only in the of the cavity and the briquets are cemented togetherwith meltedvasphalt. To prevent the possibility of a crank opening between the fillingand the wood, as invariably occurs with concrete, the briquets next to the wood are secured thereto by r means of nails n. The wall of briquets is reinforced yby braces and wires w from vthe back-of the cavity and in other ways as may The remainder of the cavity, back of the front wall, is'lilled with any one of a number of materials f, such as" asphalt stall?, sawdust, cinders or otllier materials as may be available and suitf ab e.

The preparationY ofthe cavity for an asphalt briquet filling is not essentially unlike' the preparation for a lilling of concrete. The 'decay must all come out, of course, in eithercase, but the asphalt often-requires less cutting away of sound wood than does the 'preparation for concrete. The reason for this' is that it is ,h-isually. essential to make' thecavity wedge-shape, if it is to be thus making the mouth the narrowest part of the cavity. The idea is to prevent the lilling or any part of it from working out of the cavity. in the filled with.\conc1ete,

/case of asphalt this danger is much less and can be met in other ways.

There is no change, however, in the rules as to the handling of the cambium and the shaping ofthe incision in order to facilitate the growth of the callus over the filling. The interior must receive a dressing d just as for concrete, A hot mixture of asphalt and raw les end.

linseed is the best forthe purpose, because `it stays sticky for some time. Previous, however to the application of this dressing, such bracesv must be put in as are necessary, and a method of reinforcing or bracing the briquet wall must be' decided on and provided for. Two d'fferent ways in which the wall can be strengthened are shown in the accompanying drawings and any equivalent thereof may be used, as' hereinafter' described.'

It the cavity'is a basal one and extends below the ground. the lower part up to the surface of the soil, or two or three inches above it, must be filled with concreter, or partly with cinders or the like. Then the concrete is hard the work of filling with asphalt begins. Paint the upper ,surfacel of the concrete, which has been leveled ofi', with asphalt. Havea kettle. of melted Aas phalt just as near the cavity as is possible without risk of the heat from the fire damaging the tree or the filling. nearly through one oit' the briquets near its Spear the briquet with an awl and dip it into the hot asphalt. Lay it alongside the wood with its outer edge about quarter of an inch back romthe cambium. Drive in the nail and pull out the awl. If a considerable part of the. briquet lies against the wood no further work in relation to it is necessary. It, however, a wedge-shaped space remains between the back part of the briquet and the wood, it had better be filled up with a mixture of about equal parts of Set a similar briquet against the wood on the other side of the cavity. New you can fill in between the two briquets in place. Take al briquet on the awl, dip it, and place it on its longer side on the asphalt and sawdust.

concrete, its front being flush with the firstv briquet and with the edge of the concrete. It is probable that this first flat briquet will have tobe cut to a roughly triangular shape in order to bring itsfront up to the edge of the concrete. Lay another briquet beside the first and continue the course over to the other side of the cavity. Lay on two more courses in the same way. This will bring the iia-t courses up to a level with the top of the briquet nailed to the wood at the sides of the cavity. Start the next course by laying a briquet with its narrow edge against the wood. Nail this briquet to the wood and vto the briquet below it. Finish the course. Then, at each side, nail a briquet fiat against the w-ood at each side. Build the wall up between them, lay another course from wood to wood, and so on. This process is more complicated, naturally, when -the side of. the cavity is slanting or curved. The principal difference is that the soft asphalt-sawdust mixture is more often called on' to ll crevices and corners. The neces* care required fg'r fixing the briquet at Drive a nail the edges of the wall to the wood depends upon the degree of probability there lis that a crack will open up between the'filling and the wood. If the briquets at the side are tightly nailed to the wood, when the tree sways the enlargement of the mouth of the cavity will be taken up by the elasticity of the briquet wall.v If none of the briquets are nailed to the wood, a crack may appear, under certain circumstances, along the edge of the filling.

`The method above described of securely fixing the filling (or the front Wall of the filling, in case the wall-andback-filling method is used) to the wood forming the sides of the cavity, is the most useful of several which might be employed. Obviously, if so desired, all the briquets contiguous to the wood can be laid with their long sides against the wood, instead of laying half of them with the small end a ainst it.

In carrying up the wall it is well to keep its face as smooth as possible, particularly at the sides, but it is not difficult to smooth the surface with'a hammer, or to cut of projections with a chisel, after the wall is finished. At intervals, as it is built up, the wall will need bracing. The amount of brac-ing required depends principally upon the width of the wall. If it is not more than aI foot wide, no bracing will ordinarily be nedeed. There are two types of braces, those which prevent the wall from bulging out and those which prevent it from cav ing in. The first function is best performed by the wire braces w and the second by pieces of wood g and h set in crossed relation in the cavity, as in Fig. 5. There are two good ways of handling the wire. The most ob'vious plan is to drive some staples s into the back of the cavity and run short lengths of wire from them to the wall. The easiest way is to employ Vs of wire having the ends bent down at right angles. One lilnb of the V-shaped wire is threaded through the staple and the bent ends are driven into the briquets. One of these Vs is put into every second or third course. Another way is to use the same kind of Vs, but to anchor them, not to staples, but to a strong wire a' run from one end of the cavity to 'the other from bolts or pieces of wood acrossits top and bottom. The advantage in this last plan is that greater elasticity is permitted to the wall without loss of strength. It must not be supposed, however, that the asphalt wall is of itself weak. On the contrary, it is very strong, but the conditions surrounding work in trees are so extremely trying that braces which may never be called on to undergo an ounce of strain, ought to be put in, if onlyby way ol precaution. The filling f in the space back of the wall is to form a backing for the wall, helping to hold it in place. The filling also helps in putting Licoec seine types of braces and it holds them place. @n the Wholejl am inclined o consider coal ashes or line cinders the "best 'material for tillirig the space hack bf the riquet Wall on account of "their packing ualiiies, their cheepness, and the fact that ey need no treatmenttc malte them proofl Q inst insects and decay.' VSaivdust idees Well, but .it must-be treated with carcuni' before is used. An easy Wayg to this is to spread out in a. large heir,n sprinkle it with carbolineuin from an ordi nary sprinkling can, then turn it over and sprinkle it again. All the sawdust does not have to he saturated, a gallon of car` bolineuni to ten or iiiteen cubic feet of saW- dust Will be enough. Excelsioig also treat-' ed with carbolineurn does very 1Well, espe-- ally for very thin fillings. ine bach-filling should he carried up with the briquet 1Wall, and it should roughly pressed or tamped intoplace event subsequent settling. it' would not give .for the Wall re lilling can be made asphalt-sawdust mixture, of asphaltstail', or of ordinary statiE made of encelsior and plaster of Paris, Ur, a compromise between the loo-"e and solid fillings can be inadeputti in, eyery tvvo three feet, a section, say t iree courses cli, of solid briquets, the remainder ci the @lling being of 'the walhandbacleiilling type in large cavities, especially' 1vhen savvdust is used a Kback-tillen is well to provide for the ventilation of the filling. The best Way to do this is to leave out a briquet near the bottom of the Wall and another near the top, as indicated by 2 and El. rlhe holes thus formed must be provided with a netting to heap the sawdust in and insects out. The face of the Wall 'tor an. inch or tvvo'around the opening can be painted with hot asphalt and piece of brass netting can he pressed the opening and held there until Wishing asphaltl cernents it in place. c surface of a filling; .made in accordance with these specications i wood briquet system is likely to be irregular, but is is not likely to be /ular enough to interfere with the oivth of the calluses, yet it may bede- 'abla from the aesthetic standpoint, to 'maire .it smoother. llt is not difhcult, With a broad sharp chisel or gouge, equently dipped in oil, to cut away the corners of pr jecting briquets. Then the surface can be Warn-ind with a gasolene torch, not held too near, and irregular places can he pounded down with a malletm Finally, the entire surface must be given a heavy coat of hot 1 t l to which about one-iifth of its ci rawlinseed has been .added r,

'filling of asphalt it will be easy to the use ott' for the asi tion of the said cavity and asa modification of this coat or cover I may employ an elastic abric covered over` the entire face of the filling in order to give the filling a smoother surface and to pie vent the entrance of 'Water into any cracks which might form in the filling. Such a covering is crete, because there is no satisfactory Way of lining the covering to the filling, and the covering cannot be made to briuilgeV the most important crack, the one which appears between the Wood and the filling. `With a briquets, on the contrary, nail and cement the coveringfto the lilling at every point, and the fact that no crack can appear along the edge of the lling, makes it possible for the covering to edectively cover every crack that can occur. i

la the building-up of my improved lilling, it is to be especially noticed that l hegin buildingmy filling in the cavity immediately the edge of the cavity all around and nail the saidvvall, care being taken' 'to employ su- 7cient cement to make the joints perfectly tight and thus prevent any possible craching or breaking away of the Walll at the edge of the cavity from extending inward into the body of the Wall. wll/"hatever will best safeguard this danger point in the construction may be adopted, and l have found a special edging of asphalted felt or-the li. e of suitable thickness and mechanically aiiixed to the tree a good pie cautionary medium. AThe body oit' the lling comes between these newly made edges which constitute the initial portion of the lling and become homogeneous therewith, as in the case Where the briquets come directly against the Wall of the cavity.

hat l claim is:

l. Means for treating cavities in treesV consisting of elastic units constituting an outer Welland conforming to the contour of the tree about said cavity.

2. ln means for monding trees having cavities, a lill-inv comprising a wall of briquets made oi a flexible material and permanently aixed to the to each other and substantially flush outside with the exterior ofthe tree.

3i The mea-ns herein described for filling a cavity in a tree ,consisting in an adhesive substance applied to the Wall of the said cavity and a Wall of asphalt briquets built into said 4cavity and adhered to the Wall thereof and to each other. i

d. A filling' for cavities yin trees compris ing a Wall consisting of flexible units built together across the cavity and anchoring meansv engaging said Wall with the Wall of the cavity'.

5. A tree .lling for a cavity`in a tree inner edge por- ,practically impossible on conedge bricks or pieces to the consisting of a flexible Woll occupying the front of Said cavity and :L dry filler packed into said cavity behind said Wall.

6. A filling for a cavity in :L tree consisting of n flexible Wall-built into the front of said cavity and e, coating over said Wall 1 as a surface finish therefor and a dry filler packed behind said Wall and illing said l Cavity. l

7. A filler for n cavity in a tree eoniprisl ing a Wall of briquets und n water prooing and surface evening coating spread upon l the outside of Said Wall.

l3. A filling for a cavity in a tree having Ventilating openings at the bottom and top thereof open to the outer air.

9. A llng for a cavity 1n a tree havingan outer wall of superposed units extending across' the entire front of said cavity said wall having itsedge units secured to 'the tree at the edges of the cavity.

10. n a tree having a cavlty, and :L lilling for the cavity consisting of :L homogeneous Wall provided with :L separately secured ec portion all around nailed :1nd cemented to the edge. ol the Cavity und having the remaining portion of said Wall built into said edge portion.-

11. A filling for :i cavity in a. tree comprising a Wall composed of flexible units I und metallic stays at intervals engaging said Wall with lthe wall of said cavity.

In vtestimony whereof I alix my signale ture in presence of two witnesses.

ELBERT PEETS.

Vvlitnesses E. M. Frei-inn, F. C. MUSSUN. 

